two months down, ten to go

The past two months have been surprisingly busy.

• Took in a mentee at work that's based in Latin America, we talk once every two weeks. It's mostly an open conversation but we've solved two testing problems together so far.
• Established a working relationship with two other groups at work with the aim of helping them solve their testing problems.
• Demo's and lots of conversations with other groups about how engaged and skillful testing can help their current projects. This has resulted in three more groups that have expressed interest in how we test.
• Wrote a chapter for +David Greenlees' book, Software Testing as a Martial Art. That book is already out as of last friday. You should read it. It's unlike most testing books I've read and I'm very glad to have been a part of that project. My full review of that book is forthcoming.
• I was also interviewed by +Joe Colantonio for his Test Talks Podcast, Episode 92. That came out yesterday. I will probably write about that experience. I was so nervous and had to do a bunch of repeats in the beginning. That does show Joe's skill and maturity as a host and an interviewer.
• I'm currently working with +Matt Heusser, +Justin Rohrman, +Michael Larsen and +Brian Van Stone for an upcoming Testing Podcast. That first episode should be out very soon. That's another blog post that needs to be written.
• The biggest surprise I've had so far was being invited to speak +Anna Royzman's Test Leadership Congress in NYC, scheduled on April 27, 2016. What was going through my head when Anna asked me is probably worth more than a blogpost, so watch out for that.
• Volunteered for the +Association for Software Testing as part of the technology team. I have the pleasure of being able to help, assist, and annoy +Eric Proegler on a daily basis. We've solved some interesting problems so far and I do have a coming blog post for this that should be out soon. 

The thing is that only ONE of the above eight bullet points are part of my new year's resolutions this year. Let's play a game and tell me which among the above bullet points was the only one that's on my New Year's resolution list. I want to reiterate that the above mentioned opportunities just presented themselves and all I had to do was engage them. It's more proof that Plans vs. Real Life diverge most of the time. 

How's your year so far?